ABC is Florida’s largest professional management association of commercial, industrial and institutional general contractors, specialty contractors, associates and suppliers.
Ranked by the U.S. Congress among the most influential organizations in the country, ABC was founded on and remains committed to our three-fold mission of safety and skills training, government and political affairs, and business development.
The House and Senate are in their first recess of the 116th Congress this week.
As many of you saw, the government shutdown was averted last week with Congress passing and the president signing an appropriations bill to keep the government funded through September 30, 2019. The president also declared that he would pursue construction of his border wall through national emergency funding. Attached is last Friday’s email from Vance highlighting the spending deal and emergency declaration.
Additional Funding Deal Updates:
Unfortunately, the House language from the previous Congress to defund the FEC’s enforcement of the prior approval requirement for trade association political action committees was not included in the negotiated funding deal. ABC will continue to advocate for its repeal moving forward and is looking at the reintroduction of the Prior Approval Reform Act in the 116th Congress.
The bill did contain the same discretionary language affecting H-2b workers as last year, which gives DHS the authority in consultation with DOL, to increase the H-2 cap for fiscal 2019 to 135,320 (66,000 + 69,320 (the number of H-2B returning worker visas or H-2Rs issued in FY 2007)). This is the same language that was in effect for fiscal 2017 and 2018. Although it is disappointing that Congress did not mandate a cap increase or other cap relief, in this political climate with all of the issues surrounding immigration policy, getting this language in the bill is still a fairly significant achievement.
Border Wall Update:
The president’s announcement on Friday that he would declare a national emergency to address border security and fund the building of his border wall will face legal challenges and opposition from Congress. This week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is expected to file a lawsuit challenged the president’s declaration and is expected to be joined by numerous other states including New York, New Jersey, New Mexica, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut and Minnesota. Democrats are also looking at other legal options to challenge the move by President Trump. In the Senate, Democrats have already introduced a bill to prevent the president from using the disaster funds to pay for the wall.
The Democratic House is also expected to pass a resolution of disapproval to block the move, which would force a vote on the matter in the Senate and only require a simple majority (51 votes) to rebuke the president’s move. A number of Republican Senators have already expressed concerns with the president’s proposal, seeing it as a dangerous precedent to set in providing funds for what a future Democratic president could view as a national emergency.
If passed by both houses, the president is expected to veto the resolution and there do not appear to be enough votes to override his veto at this time.
Paycheck Fairness Update:
Last week, House Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee held a joint subcommittee hearing on H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. You can view the full hearing here and see Committee Republicans statement on the bill here. ABC continues to oppose this legislation and will provide updates on any progress made on the bill during the 116th Congress.
New Member Highlight:
Newly elected Senator from North Dakota, Kevin Cramer previously served in the U.S. House for 6 years as ND’s At-Large Congressman. As ND’s Congressman, Cramer had a 100 percent voting record with ABC and supported legislation in the 114th Congress to preserve open competition and prevent mandating project labor agreements on federal projects.
Cramer has had a long career in public service. In 1991, he was elected Chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party and from 1993 to 2000, he served in Governor Ed Schafer’s cabinet, first as State Tourism Director from 1993 to 1997, then as State Economic Development & Finance Director from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, then-Governor John Hoeven appointed Cramer to the Public Service Commission, and in 2004 he was elected to the position.
Cramer has boasted his record of encouraging the private sector through limited, common sense regulations and limited government. His other priorities in the House included energy development and he served on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. In the Senate, Cramer will serve on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Budget, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Current ABC Congressional IssuesFind your Florida House Member
Carol Bowen, ABC Chief Lobbyist
3730 Coconut Creek Parkway, Suite 200
Coconut Creek, FL 33066
cbowen@abceastflorida.com
Robert Stuart
Chris Carmody
GrayRobinson
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